Religion can certainly be blamed
for the schisms in our history, including the current problems today with Muslin extremists and Christian findamentalism.
The other
reason for schism was McIntyre's insistence on dispensationalist premillennialism, a distinctive form of prophetic teaching widely but not universally held by conservative evangelicals.
Such theological differences need not destroy the unity of faith and confession, they need not be a
cause for schism, and today neither side ought to emphasize them to such an extent as still to justify the separation of the Churches.
I found Tony Jones» post It's
Time For a Schism Regarding Women in the Church a fascinating read.
Of course, liturgical differences were not the only issues at stake on either side of that divide; many doctrinal, moral and ecclesiastical questions became flash points for division, even, tragically,
for schism in some cases.
These «steps
for the schism» aren't about schism at all.